They Tell Me 'No'
by Nachhall
Summary: Waiting is honestly very exhausting when you're stuck with nothing but the voices in your head and the occasional glimpse of your family living in a world where you can't reach them. Little plotless thing I wrote during class. Expect it to be terrible.


pAkashi almost decides to greet his brothers the first time he meets them./p

pHe stops himself at the last second, listening to the whispers drifting through his mind that tell him 'not yet'. The whispers tell him what to do, he knows, and they are usually always correct. The first time he finds himself waking, they are already there, giving him advice in the endless dark world he found himself in, pinpricks of white leading to the physical world being the only sources of light./p

p"Why not? They're right emthere/em. Will it not be okay not to give a little greeting?" Akashi questions halfheartedly, already knowing the answer the whispers would give, but it couldn't have hurt to try. The whispers' faint voices rise almost an octave in pitch, in distress or anger, he did not know, and Akashi regrets asking as he clutches his head in slight pain. A firm disagreement then. He takes one last look through the tear in space, before turning on his heel and walking off./p

pHe does not ask again the next few times he sees his brothers and instead contents himself with watching them go about their daily life. The whispers don't talk to him as often anymore, maybe thinking that he had given up on going to the physical world. Without the constant stream of voices and advice streaming through the back of his mind, Akashi's world becomes just a bit more quieter and a lot more lonelier./p

p"Are you guys still there?" Akashi questions some days, when the darkness and silence are just a bit too much to bear. The whispers don't answer./p

p-/p

pThe eighteenth time Akashi sees his brothers is when a tear opens up right next to him one day, right when he had decided to lie down and close his eyes. He looks at Hotarumaru, hesitantly feeding the horses while being urged on by his red-haired brother. He gets an irresistible urge to walk to them, and his left foot is halfway through the portal when the whispers come alive once more, hissing and spitting at the tear from his mind.

/p

p"Not yet, hm?" He takes the hint and casts a second look at his brothers, happy and carefree. His presence will just burden the two, he understands, and the two look happy enough. He decides not to go.

/p

p-

/p

p

On some days, the dimension he resides in echoes with screams. There is no one to hear him, so Akashi lets his howls escape from his throat when Aizen is smashed against the side of Sanjou Bridge, when Hotarumaru is nearly cut in half by an oodachi in Atsukashiyama. He almost ignores his own common sense and runs off but is stopped by the echoing screeches of the voices still lingering at the back of his head.

/p

p"Is it time yet?" Akashi asks, determinedly staring at the stitches in his boots in an attempt to not cry out. Whether in anger or fear for his brothers, he just doesn't know anymore.

/p

pemSoon. Just wait a little more./em The whispers' reply is nothing new to him, and Akashi lets out a growling sound as he collapses onto the ground to bury his face in his knees.

/p

p"It's always the same answer. How soon is soon? A day? A week? When? Will I have to wait until my hair turns white while waiting? Is that it?" Akashi mumbles into his knees, clutching the little red hairpins that Aizen had given him so very long ago.

/p

pThe reply is the same as before. emSoon./em Giving out a frustrated sound, Akashi flops onto his back and decides to go to sleep, in hopes that it might pass the time. It does, and he wakes up quite a long time later from a dream of blood and greedy hands.

/p

p-

/p

pOn the 48th time he spots one of his siblings, it's at that bridge once more. Akashi marvels at how strong Aizen has gotten in such a short amount of time, as the red-haired tantou swiftly takes down a yari without so much as a scratch to his person. He supposes he should thank the human who must be taking care of his siblings so well, and promises himself to do just that when he gets the chance./p

pNot now however. The whispers still tell him to wait and Akashi grimaces and gives in once more. He lays out his jacket on what could be called the ground and curls up. A nap might help pass some more time. And as a bonus, the whispers completely stop talking whenever he's asleep, and takes that as another reason to sleep as often as possible.

/p

p-

/p

p It is on the 67th time he sees one of his siblings that he is told to step through the portal. Akashi jolts from his napping position in disbelief, accidentally knocking his glasses off the bridge of his nose. He carefully maneuvers into a squat, getting ready to move as soon as he is given consent.

/p

p"You really mean it? I can go?" is his hesitant reply, slowly pulling on his jacket in order to sprint to the portal before the command is changed back to the usual em'Wait'/em. The whispers give a small hum and Akashi takes that as his cue to hurtle through the portal just as a purple-eyed tantou defeats the last enemy./p

pHe feels a ripple, almost like water, before he finds himself in a dark street, gazing at his brother through the fog and gloom. Akashi shakes off his apprehension, and reaches upwards to run his hands through his fringe in order to try and make himself more presentable. "Hello. Excuse me. I am known as Akashi Kuniyuki, nice to meet you. Go easy on me, alright?" He gave a small wince at his introduction, maybe it sounded too flippant?Well, might as well act along and play the character he introduced himself as./p

p"Kuniyuki! You're super late! Hotaru's been waiting for a looong time yanno?!" Came the cry as a small body crashed into him, the red-haired tantou burying his face into Akashi's shirt and clutching his jacket in tight fists. "When we get back, me and Hotaru'll throw a festival, just for the three of us, so don't you go running off or something ya hear?"/p


End file.
